• 19
  • January
    2012

Based on statistics, it appears that it might.

In the last 10 years, 81,000 young adults (ages 15 to 20) have been killed in car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC). Based on this number, it is no surprise that the leading cause of death among teenagers is motor vehicle accidents. Recognizing this problem, a number of states have established graduated driver licensing systems to allow teens to gain experience while limiting risk.

Graduated driver licensing places restrictions on teen drivers, such as limits on use of cell phones, number and age of passengers and restricted driving based on time of day.

A recent report from the National Safety Council (NSC) believes that a nationwide comprehensive graduated driver licensing program would save more than 2,000 lives and over $13 billion a year.

This conclusion was reached after evaluating traffic accident data from 1994 to 2007. Based on this data, states that enacted even one component of a graduated driver licensing system saw fatal accidents involving teens reduced by 4 percent annually.

The financial savings estimate of $13 billion is based on the typical costs of a fatal car accident: damage to motor vehicles, first responder expenses, medical costs, lost wages and productivity and insurance losses. (Projected total costs based on reduction in accidents due to uniform graduated driver licensing were compared to costs from 2009, when the NSC estimated that accidents involving teenaged drivers cost more than $38 billion a year.)

To learn more about graduated drivers licensing in New York, please check out our next blog post.

Source: MSNBC.com, "Study: Tougher teen driving laws would save lives, money," 12/6/11.